Kalyan Singh and his family members, including daughter-in-law Premlata, are accused of violation of Model Code of Conduct twice. (Express Archive)

9:15 pm: Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor today campaigned for BJP Chandigarh candidate Kirron Kher and said he had not come to the city on anybody’s invitation to support her, but as a “friend”.

9:00 pm: BJP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today said that Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal were dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister, but they would not get people’s support in the Lok Sabha polls.

8:57 pm: As part of its drive to create awareness among women voters of the need to exercise their fundamental right, electoral authorities today organised a two-wheeler rally which had participation by the fairer sex.

8:01 pm: AAP would concentrate on three LS constituencies including Nilgiris, where former union minister A Raja is contesting on DMK ticket, out of the 20 seats it was contesting in the April 20 polls, party Tamil Nadu convenor, David Arunkumar said today.

7:50 pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Congress alone could counter the “divisive ideology” of BJP and accused the party of unleashing a misleading propaganda that UPA government had not acted tough to contain corruption in the last 10 years.

7:48 pm: No bar on manifesto release on poll day, but cannot be publicised in areas where polling being held: CEC on BJP
manifesto release tomorrow.

7:20 pm: Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today hinted at setting up of an industrial hub for sandstone in the Dhabi mining area here and announced sanctioning of Rs 147 crore compensation for rain-hit farmers in the state.

7:01 pm: The electoral fortunes of 51 contestants, including two Union ministers, will be decided in five Lok Sabha seats in Assam tomorrow when an electorate of 64,41,634 will cast their votes amidst tight security.

6:28 pm: Sending out a terse message to leaders and workers defying party lines, the JD(U) has decided to take strong action against its three MLAs for their open anti-party activities in the run up to Lok Sabha elections.

6:20 pm: FIR filed against Amit Shah for making hate speech in Bijnore.

5:34 pm: Narendra Modi today took a jibe at the Congress, SP and BSP, saying the three parties are indulging in “stage-managed” WWF-like fights in Uttar Pradesh but come together to grab power at the Centre.

5:20 pm: As many as 50 dummy Electronic Voting Machines displaying ruling BJD’s election symbol ‘Conch’ were seized from a jeep in Kantamal Assembly constituency in Odisha, official sources said today.

4:58 pm: With all major political parties using the social media to woo voters, the Trinamool Congress is bolstering its Internet presence by introducing ‘Didi Direct’ section on its website and getting IIM graduates to write blogs for the party to make the most of it.

4:57 pm: Engaged in a war of words during their heated poll campaign for Amritsar seat, Congress’ Amarinder Singh and BJP leader Arun Jaitley were for once exchanging pleasantries as the two rivals ran into each other during their morning walk today.

4:50 pm: Every NDA worker should have one aim that at their respective polling booth they won’t let their party lose.

4:50 pm: Narendra Modi launches his poll pitch.

3:59 pm: Election authorities in Uttar Pradesh have sent the CD of the controversial remarks by Narendra Modi’s close aide Amit Shah along with the report of District Election Officer to the Election Commission here today.

3:39 pm: Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma today alleged SP and BJP were hand in glove with each other in communalising elections and sought a “ban” by the Election Commission on campaigning by leaders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in Uttar Pradesh.

3:38 pm: BJP vice president Uma Bharti today said that while the issue of Ram temple is a matter of faith for the party, the issue of development and backwardness is a major plank in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

3:30 pm: BJP has filed a complaint with the Election Commission in connection with a book showcasing the work done by Union Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel as it features a photograph of Narendra Modi.

3:18 pm: The personal assistant of Congress MLA Membrar Gogoi was killed and his two security guards were injured in a road accident when they were returning from a poll related work, police said today.

3:00 pm: Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today welcomed the support extended by Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari to Congress and claimed the party had the backing of all Muslim bodies.

11.15 am: Dismissing any “Modi wave” in the country, AAP candidate from Bangalore Central constituency and former Infosys director V Balakrishnan today labelled both Congress and BJP as “corrupt” and said they have no intention to change the style of governance.

10.50 am:

Rahul returned to campaign in Haryana today but was very upbeat and confident that we are doing better nationwide than the media suggests!

10.00 am: Two days after BJP general secretary Amit Shah’s controversial “revenge” remarks in Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission has reportedly sought the tapes showing the leader’s speech in the Muzaffarnagar.

The Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer has prepared a report on BJP general secretary Amit Shah’s statements in Muzaffarnagar seeking “revenge” for “insults”, and will be sending it to the Election Commission for action.

9.45 am: The high-stakes battle in the virtual Presidential-style contest between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi with a few other regional satraps also in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections begins on Monday in six constituencies in two states in the first of the nine-phased polls.

Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), took a dig at Narendra Modi, saying the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee was a “groom in hurry” who had declared himself victorious even before the people’s mandate was out.